Tessellated Tree-Like Transportation Shelters Offer Unique Shade for Local College Students

When architects from Public: Architecture + Communication visited the University of British Columbia, they noticed a slight flaw in the campus’ urban design plan. Although the main university avenue was lined with beautiful trees, the bus stops were left as cold, barren concrete zones. They felt that these public spaces deserved to be equipped with functional nature-influenced transit shelters in order to give the campus a cohesively green urban aesthetic.

The beautiful glulam wood canopies are made up of a series of irregular pentagonal shapes supported by manually-welded steel supports. The decision to use the pentagon shape was both a functional and aesthetic strategy. “The thing that we liked about the repeating pentagon is that it creates something that is repetitive, but it’s also something that’s fluid and dynamic,” said Public’s Christopher Sklar. “It doesn’t feel like it’s repeating when you’re actually in it. It’s kind of a flowing structure above you.”

Encasing the large geometric canopy is a reflective bronze-tinted glass that was specifically chosen for its ability to reduce UV exposure as well as its shading properties. Although the tinted glass is hardly noticeable from the outside, it helps cast an optimal level of shade below.